Most striking is the comment that Apple doesn’t create hype to sell its products. That’s a blatantly false statement. Apple made history for its brilliant strategy of creating hype for the iPhone. Which is not to say that the product itself isn’t remarkable. It is. Apple was brilliant BOTH in creating a great product AND in creating an historical level of hype.

I would also note that there is a logical fallacy in the argument that people won’t buy a product competing with the iPhone since the iPhone is the standard against which competing products are measured. At some point the present version of the iPhone will be outdone by another phone (whether built by Apple or some other company). I would not say it is impossible that the Pre might be that phone. That’s for the market to decide. Note that things can change very quickly, especially in the high tech gadget business. Today, unquestionably, the iPhone is king of the hill. But that doesn’t mean that it will be the king tomorrow.

I own a iPhone and I love it. But it does have some pretty serious problems.

First of all, the lack of a physical keyboard makes it impossible for it to be one’s primary email device. I know plenty of people who are fortunate to be wealthy enough to own both an iPhone and a Blackberry. And every last one of them will tell you that it is because of the lack of a keyboard on the iPhone.

Secondly, the lack of GPS is really annoying. I now keep two PDAs with me. My iPhone and my old Windows Mobile phone with built-in GPS. Yes, yes, the WM software is horrible by comparison. I take that back. It’s horrible even without a comparison. But I travel a lot and need a GPS to help me find the places I need to get to. I don’t have a choice at the moment.

Thirdly, Apple is enforcing the policy of only running one app at a time. This is a real nuisance. There are plenty of programs that I would want to run concurrently, and even my lousy WM phone can do it. Like IM. Like turn-by-turn navigation (maybe that’s why there isn’t a navigation program… can you imagine you’re near an exit and the phone rings? Boom! you just missed your exit… doesn’t happen with with my WM phone), and the list goes on and on.

None of this is to say that the iPhone is not a great device, but it does have its limitations.

What is very exciting about the Pre is that it appears to address all of these issues, and it takes the concept of what a smart phone should do to a whole new level. Or at least promises to do that.

If the Pre delivers on its promise AND Apple doesn’t update the iPhone to meet or exceed what the Pre can do, then it isn’t unreasonable to imagine that the Pre will become the standard against which all other smartphones are measured. Motorola was at the top of the heap with its Razr. Where are they now? I don’t doubt for a second that Apple has lots of goodies up its sleeve. But ultimately the fickle consumer will decide who is up and who is down by voting with their pocketbooks.

Remon